Recognising Human Rights in Social Work
A human rights discourse is gradually influencing social work policy and practice. Although the concept of human rights is increasingly incorporated in codes of ethics, organisational policies and social work curriculum there has been little analysis of its impact. Furthermore, social work has not fully engaged with critiques of the limitations of human rights approaches; nor has it effectively found ways of moving beyond legalistic, western and universalising frameworks.
In some spheres of practice, there have been embryonic endeavours to adopt human rights initiatives in advancing the causes of those most excluded from full participation in society. This paper analyses such endeavours in the United Kingdom and Australia, drawing on the areas of expertise of the authors. These include social work engagement with gypsies and travellers in the UK, Indigenous people in Australia and asylum seekers in both countries.
The paper examines how United Nations conventions have affected the ways in which human rights has shaped the thinking of those who espouse such approaches. It then examines how the rhetoric of human rights has begun replacing social justice notions in how the profession views its responsibility to groups on the margins of citizenry of each country. Moving beyond macro-level engagement, the paper proposes some practical ways that social work practitioners can participate in adopting measures that cohere with the aspirations of the marginalised groups, and which have a social change focus.